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Gervonta Davis will have his day in court, albeit for a case in which he expected a different outcome.
A plea deal between Davis and the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office was rejected by Judge Melissa Phinn during a hearing Wednesday morning in Baltimore City Circuit Court, as reported by first time by The Baltimore Banner. Davis would have avoided jail time under the deal stemming from a November 2020 hit-and-run in his hometown of Baltimore.
Instead, the undefeated ring star will face a jury trial beginning December 12. According to court records, the trial is expected to last two days, with Davis facing 14 counts of misdemeanor traffic violations.
Davis faces a maximum of 50 months in prison if convicted of all remaining charges. The most serious charge alleges that the boxer fled the scene of an accident involving bodily injury, as well as driving on the highway while his license was suspended and revoked, each of which separately carries a maximum sentence of one year. .
A plea agreement extended by the prosecution called for a one-year suspended sentence, during which Davis would have to commit to 60 days of home confinement and freedom to work. Davis was prepared to accept the guilty plea and resume his boxing career, although the court deemed him too lenient after sympathizing with the remaining victim, Jyair Smith, who was pregnant at the time of the accident and told Judge Phinn that she “begged Mr. Gervonta Davis; I looked him in the eye. I said I have to get home to my daughter, I’m pregnant. Not once did he come to help me. He picked up his things and left [the scene of the crash].”
Judge Phinn agreed with the victim in finding the plea deal unacceptable.
Davis previously rejected a similar plea deal in March, which called for a suspended sentence of one year minus 120 days in prison.
The alleged incident took place during the night of November 5, 2020, just days after Davis (27-0, 25KOs) scored a sixth-round knockout of Leo Santa Cruz at the top of a Pay-Per-View event. View on Showtime on October 30.
According to court records, witnesses identified Davis as the driver of a 2020 Lamborghini Uris that ran a red light and struck the passenger side of a 2004 Toyota Solara at 1:47 a.m. on Nov. 5, 2020. A security camera red light located at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 700 Washington Boulevard picked up the incident. Police officers responded to the incident in question at approximately 1:55 a.m.
Court records indicate that Smith’s vehicle was totaled in the accident. The Lamborghini, which was not registered to Davis, was abandoned after its contents were transferred to another vehicle in which Davis and an unidentified woman left, according to witnesses and videos obtained by investigators.
Four people were injured in the incident, although none were life-threatening and all were treated at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma. As a result, each of the original 14 charges filed against Davis were classified as misdemeanors and not felony charges when filed by the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office on March 22.
Among the initial charges were four counts of failing to return immediately and remain at the scene of an accident involving bodily injury. Since then, three of the four victims have reached civil agreements with Davis, who has not yet done so with Smith according to his lawyer, Gil Amaral, who demands that the boxer be tried and, if found guilty, receive a punishment in accordance with the alleged crime.
“[Miss Smith] she wants the court to know that she will not be satisfied with anything more than a jail term to make sure this person gets the message,” Amaral told Judge Phinn on Wednesday, according to the Baltimore Banner.
The development comes after at least two separate stays in a case now lasting two years, though it’s not Davis’s only legal battle, nor is it the oldest.
The undefeated southpaw knockout artist, who turns 28 in November, is still the subject of an open case in Miami court, alleging two counts of misdemeanor assault, including simple assault domestic violence. The basis for the charges comes from video footage obtained from a charity basketball event that took place during Super Bowl week in Miami in early February 2020. Davis was arraigned on February 5, 2020, although the case was delayed. repeatedly.
The next trial date for that case is currently scheduled for October 6 at the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center in Dade County, with a Docket Sounding scheduled for September 29.
Davis’ legal battles continue as he awaits the next fight date in the ring. The heart of his finest hour has aired across Showtime platforms, including Showtime Pay-Per-View headlines in each of his last four starts. His last fight took place on May 28 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where Davis defended his secondary WBA lightweight title by sixth-round knockout against mandatory challenger Rolando Romero.
The fight with Romero was originally supposed to take place on December 5. Ironically, it was Romero who was removed from the event following allegations of sexual assault over an incident that allegedly took place more than two years earlier. The matter officially became the subject of a police investigation with the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department in late October, approximately five weeks before his pay-per-view date, at which point the decision was made to remove Romero from the event.
Romero was replaced by Isaac Cruz, whom Davis (27-0, 25KOs) outpointed over twelve rounds last December 5 at Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. The distance fight ended Davis’ sixteen-fight knockout streak, though he remains undefeated and among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Davis has fought three times since being charged in the hit-and-run incident in Baltimore, and four times since being charged with two counts of assault in Miami. All four fights have made it to a Showtime PPV, which is expected to lead to his next fight against a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent later this year.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
